


Intertwined

by ruination_fangs



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crimson Flower Route, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, Fluff, Post-Canon, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24551248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruination_fangs/pseuds/ruination_fangs
Summary: Heavy is the crown, Byleth knows - but she's looking for ways to make it a little lighter.Literally, sometimes.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 125





	Intertwined

The Garland Moon is supposed to herald the start of the rainy season, yet today, like the last several days, is bright and warm when Byleth steps outside her room.

There has been rain, true - but it's been intermittent showers, in between skies studded with light, quickly-moving clouds. All in all, easy weather for Byleth to ignore. It doesn't get in the way of training or teaching, so she barely pays it any mind, instead going about her duties with the single-mindedness she has a reputation for.

She has noticed, however, the flowers blooming around Garreg Mach. It's something she probably would have glanced over without a second thought a couple months ago, but now, after learning how to tend to the plants in the greenhouse, her eyes are drawn to the blossoming bushes that line the buildings, and the flowers sprouting in their beds along walkways.

She's admiring these flowers on her way to the dining hall when something else catches her eye, and she stops at the entrance to a courtyard. Along one edge is a stone bench, perched between short, well-trimmed bushes, and on that bench sits Edelgard with a bundle of flowers in her lap.

Byleth has to watch a little while before she realizes what Edelgard is doing, and even then she doesn't quite understand how she's doing it. Each flower she picks up, she weaves into the stems of the others until together they make an arc - almost a ring, now.

The pile of flowers diminishes slowly as Edelgard tucks and retucks the loose stems into place. Despite her usual caution, she's so concentrated on the task that she apparently doesn't notice Byleth until she's only a few steps away. 

For some reason, her face pales to almost the same color as her hair - or the flowers. "P-Professor... how long have you...?"

"A little while," Byleth says. "I was curious about what you're doing."

Edelgard jolts and looks down at the flower ring as if she had forgotten it. "Ah, this is... I know it's silly at a time like this, but..."

Byleth tilts her head. "It's a... tradition, isn't it? That's why it's called the Garland Moon."

"Yes." Edelgard seems to relax a little as they drift into less personal territory. "You're familiar with it, then?"

"Only vaguely." Byleth lowers herself to the bench next to Edelgard, dimly registering the way Edelgard tenses, almost imperceptibly. "Will you explain it to me?"

"Ah... Well, I'm sure you've already heard most of it." Edelgard seems very conscious of the space between them. "Roses usually bloom at the end of the Harpstring Moon and beginning of the Garland Moon, so they're picked in the early Garland Moon, before the rain sets in." She runs a finger delicately along the edge of a white petal. "In southern Adrestia, it can rain for days straight at this time of year."

Byleth hums. "And then the roses are woven into wreaths?"

"That's the tradition, yes. Young women make garlands out of them, and gift them to those they have feelings for... o-or just friends, or perhaps family."

Edelgard's eyes remain fixed on the flower crown in her lap. Byleth asks, "So did you make this for someone?"

At that, she flushes. Her eyes flick to Byleth, and then away. "...Actually, I was hoping... you would accept it, my teacher. A-As a token of... camaraderie. I thought, since you are new here, it might be nice to..."

She trails off, somewhat at a loss to explain. A little odd, Byleth thinks; Edelgard is usually quite articulate. She has probably taught Byleth as much as Byleth has taught her, and never had qualms about treating her professor as more of an equal than a superior - or a subject, for that matter.

But Byleth knows what she means. She is still somewhat of an outsider here; receiving such a gift might help her feel more welcome. 

"I would be happy to accept it," she says, with a hint of what she hopes is a smile. It's not an expression she makes often, and even when she wants to show her appreciation, her muscles seem to resist. "Can I wear it?"

"Oh! Yes, um, let me finish it up," Edelgard says, rotating the crown in her hands until she reaches the small gap where she stopped. "It won't take long."

So Byleth continues to watch as Edelgard inserts the last few flowers and checks the ring for loose stems. Once she accepts it and thanks Edelgard for the gift, the princess hurries to excuse herself, citing other work to do. Byleth hums an acknowledgement and runs her fingertips over the crown. It's a little prickly, and slips easily against her hair, and sometimes a petal falls off and floats to the ground beside her, but she wears it the rest of the day.

* * *

Several Garland Moons pass. Byleth is not conscious of most of them, and the next Garland Moon that she shares with Edelgard is in the Imperial Year 1186.

Now that the war is over, there's a semblance of peace in Fódlan. Edelgard is doing all she can to maintain it, Byleth knows - even while they are both aware that soon, a new war will rage in the shadows. But for now, the citizens are happy to rest and rebuild. Edelgard has dedicated nearly all of the Empire's resources toward reconstruction and reparations, and the tentative alliance between her government and Those Who Slither has not broken, yet.

So Byleth takes advantage of the quieter days to watch, and learn. She becomes accustomed to feeling her pulse in her veins, the steady beating that rocks her chest incessantly. She looks with new eyes at a world that somehow feels more colorful than it did before. Feelings wash over her with a force she doesn't recognize, and she drinks them in slowly.

Her heart beats harder around Edelgard, as if it's trying to make up for all that time it sat silent in her chest. And yet the adrenaline never quite diffuses the calm she feels around the emperor, the sense of peace and belonging. She thinks she has a word, now, for this conflicting set of emotions that fit so well together. She felt it before, but muted, distant; now it blooms in her chest with a strength that makes her dizzy.

With no one to fight at the moment, she goes back to spending her free time fishing and tending the palace gardens, for lack of a greenhouse. There are bushes upon bushes of roses, and seeing them bloom at the beginning of the month reminds Byleth of an old memory she had almost forgotten. Edelgard had given her a garland, once, back at the academy, and that gives Byleth an idea.

She scours the gardens until she finds the flowers she wants, and tends to them personally for the next few weeks. The timing is perfect: by the third week of the Garland Moon they're tall and ready to be harvested, and it takes no small amount of self restraint to wait until the right day.

When the 22nd comes, Byleth has to fetch Edelgard from her office, as usual. Though Hubert may have taken some care to keep her schedule light on her birthday, Edelgard is never one to waste a free moment, and she's hard at work when Byleth invites her to lunch outside. 

"Yes, that sounds lovely," Edelgard says with a smile a tinge weary. "The weather has been quite nice lately, and surprisingly dry."

The answer is so practical, Byleth has to wonder if she's forgotten what day it is. Perhaps she's simply waiting for an excuse to remember. Edelgard needs an excuse for a lot of things, Byleth has learned. 

That's okay. Byleth is happy to give her one.

She leads Edelgard to a secluded spot in the castle grounds, near to both the pond and one of the gardens, where she's already laid out a blanket beneath a tree. Edelgard eyes the large picnic basket next to them as they sit down.

Byleth doesn't open it yet. "You won't need this out here," she says, reaching for Edelgard's crown. It comes off easily and she places it on the blanket beside them.

Edelgard tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "It is nice to do without the weight of it for a while," she says, smiling faintly. "The breeze feels good."

Honestly, it's a little rare to see her without it these days, and Byleth loses herself for a few moments just admiring her profile. It's not until Edelgard looks at her with a question in her eyes that Byleth remembers what she's here for, and pulls the picnic basket closer.

"Before we eat, I want to give you something."

Edelgard watches curiously as Byleth opens the basket and draws out a flower crown. She handles it delicately; this is the first one she's ever made, and she's not certain she did it very well. She can't have it come apart now, not after the hours she spent on it while fishing that morning.

Edelgard's eyes are wide. "Did you make this, m- Byleth?"

"Yes." Byleth beams. "For you. Can I put it on you?"

After a moment, Edelgard nods, and then sits perfectly still as Byleth reaches over to set the crown carefully on her head.

"There," she says. "Much better."

Edelgard reaches a hand up as if to fuss with it, then thinks better of it. Instead she draws in a deep breath, the scent of the fresh flowers washing over them both.

"I believe they're traditionally made with white flowers," she says. "Why the lilac?"

"It suits you better, I think," Byleth says, and smiles proudly when their gazes lock. "You have beautiful eyes."

It's a lovely combination - her silver-white hair, the pale purple flowers, and the dusting of pink on her cheeks. Byleth thinks that her imperial portrait should have been more like this. The painting of her on her throne in her armor perfectly captures her dignity and ambition - but that's not really _her_ , not as Byleth knows her. Her Edelgard is the one who sits before her now, with her eyes closed and lips upturned as she relishes the feather-light feel of the flowers on her head and the hint of a breeze rustling the leaves above them.

"Do you remember," Edelgard says, opening her eyes again, "the flower crown I gave to you back at the academy? It feels like so long ago, now."

Byleth remembers. It doesn't feel like so long ago to her - but of course it's different for Edelgard. Edelgard has lived through several summers and winters without her. The thought makes Byleth feel a little lonely, even though she was conscious of no such emotions herself during that time.

"I do," she replies. "That's why I made you this one. You said it's a tradition in the Garland Moon, to give them to someone you want to be your lover."

At that Edelgard's face goes truly red, and she turns away. Despite the rings and promises they exchanged after the war ended, nothing has really happened between them since then. Byleth has made sure to stay close, but she knows Edelgard is swamped with duties both personal and political, and she can wait. Edelgard waited years for her, after all. A few months is nothing.

"W-Well, I... I appreciate it," Edelgard finally says, composing herself. "All of it. I can see you put a lot of thought into this." Her eyes drift to the picnic basket again, stuffed to the brim with sandwiches and small cakes, and her expression softens along with her voice. "Thank you, Byleth."

Byleth simply smiles and takes her hand. Seeing Edelgard happy and at peace is all the thanks she needs.


End file.
